Seat-positioning device



y 2, 1929- L. o. THOMPSON 1.719.815

SEAT POSITIONING DEVICE Filed Nov. 20, 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 gwvaw ioc y2, 1929- L. OJTHOMPSON 1.719.815

I SEAT POSITIONING DEVICE I Filed Nov. 20, 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet 2g'wuwntov July 2, 1929. o. THOMPSON I SEAT POSITIONING DEVICE Filed Nov.20. 1926 4 SheetsSheet 5 16 6 0775 Thompson July 2 1929. 1... o.THOMPSON SEAT POSITIONING DEVICE Filed Noy. 20, 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet 4gwwntoz Aft Thain 00'0" ill) Patented July 2, 1929.

My invention relates to seats as used in any and all public placeswherein the same are arranged in rows and wherein it may be founddesirable for the purposes of, reaching or departing from the seat totransfer the seat tron-1 a point disposed away. from the entrance aisleto a point adjacent the aisle.

The nrimary object of my invention consists in new, novel and usefulmeans whereby the seat to be occupied or to be released from occiipancymay be transferred by simple and ctlicient means from a point away froman aisle location directly to an aislelocation.

A further object oi my device, consists in providing selective,manipulative means for the bringing of this about, either bythe ocmnt otthe seat manipulating the selective, operative means, or by the samebeing manipulated or operated bythe usher or other person in charge,trom the aisle location.

A still further object of my device, consists in selectivelytransferring of seats from one row to another, or from one location toanother, incertain, and predetermined group Formerly it was the commonpractice in public gathering places, and primarily in theatres, for thepatrons of the place to be i'iceupied to visit the place at statedintervals and to depart therefrom at stated intervals, but in manygathering places at the present time this not true and a new conditionhas arisen,people are entering and leaving pub he places continuouslyover long periods, and this has created a new condition so that it isnow desiral'ile for patrons to enter and depart from their seatsat anytime andto turnish adequate, simple and etiicient means to accommodatepatrons with the least annoyance to the other patrons, is the primaryohect and purpose of my invention;

With these and incidental objects in view, the invention consists incertain novel features of construction and combination. of parts, theessential elements ot which are set forth in the appended. claims, and arn'e'terred :l'orm of embodiment oi which is hereinafter shown withreference to the drawings lilllCll accompany and term a part oi thisspecilica- In the draWings:-- i Fig. 1 1s a top plan view of two seatsechaving four seats disposed. in each seeivithavacant spacein eachsection. The aisle plain View UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Application filed November 20, 1926. Serial No. 149,748.

be occupied by the seats, with the seats removed theretroin.

v i i 1 1g. 5 1s an inverted plan view of the opcratingmechanism for theseats illustrated in Fig. 1, aud for the drives illustrated in Fig. 2.Fig. is a cross section View, taken on hue l loi F 1g. 1 looklng 1n thedircctlon indicared.

Fig. 5 is a cross sectional View, taken on line of Fig. l, looklng 111the direction indicateiil.

Fig. 6 isa side elevation, partially in section, of the controlmechanism adapted to being manipulated by the patron when the seat is tobe manipulated the same shows the mani nilating mechanism in inoperativeposition. i i

Fig.- 7 a side elevation, partially in section, oi the mechanismillustrated in Fig. 6,

but illustrates the same after the manipulation of the same.

Fig.- 8 is a cross section, side elevation, of the mechanism illustratedin Figs. 6 and 7, illustrating the same in conjunction with the stopmechanism for stopping the cycle of operation when the cycle has beencompleted.

Fig. 9 is an inverted plan view ot a seat section, taken on line 99 ofFig. 5, looking in the direction indicated; the same is made to pletionof the cycle of operation.

Fig. 11 is a diagrannnatieal layout of the electric mechanism.

Fig. '12 a cross section View, taken on line 1212ot Fig. 8, looking inthe direction indicated;

i *Likerefereuce characters refer to like parts througl iout the severalviews. I preferably mahemy device selectively operative upon twosections of seats, each section here shown containing four seats, as 'il"lustrated in Fig. 1, but I do not Wish to be limited to four seats ineach section as any number of seatsina i be adapted to the meehanismillustrated. he seats are here shown ice eat 6 A p]., A

operation.

ways 5, disposed in the platform. This platform may or may not be raisedor be inde pendent ofthe floor of the building, but is here described asa platform for convenience in description and illustration. Should theoccupant of seat 6 in row A desire to leave his seat he would operatethe selective manipulative key disposed adjacent and convenientlylocated at his seat and the first operation that would result would be atransfer of each of the seats disposed in row A toward the aisle thedistance of one seat. Simultaneously with .this movement each of theseats disposed in row B would be moved away from the aisle for the spaceof one seat. lVith this shifting of the seats thereafter a secondoperation would be set in motion wherein seats from row A would beshifted into row B at the aisle and seats from now B, would be shiftedinto row A at the farthest point from the aisle, and seats would betransferred toward the aisle as shifted inrow A and away from the aislein row B until seat 6 would be delivered to the aisle position. in row Aat which time the selective mechanism would stop the cycle of Should theoccupant of seat 7, located in row B, desire to leave his seat; he

would press the selective, manipulative key disposed at the seat and-thefollowing cycle of operation would be set inmotion. First the. aisleseat in row B and the seat farthest from the aisle in row would each betransferred to the opposite row A in the same section' of two rows ofseats, thereafter all seats in row B would betransferred toward theaisle and all seats in row A would betransferred away from the aisle andas each seat is transferred to the end of the row the same will then betransferred to the adjacent row until seat 7 is delivered to the aisleposition at which time the cycle of operation is completedand theoccupant will leave his seat. The mechanism necessary to effect thisresult will now be described in detail.

,A prime mover 8, as an electric motor, is positioned central of theplatform 4, and is disposed beneath the floor and is driven by electriccurrent to be supplied from a source not here shown. Apower shaftterminates each end of the shaft of the prime mover as hereshown at 9and 10, and for the purposes of; speed, ,reduction I have shown a wormmounted upon each of the shafts 9 and 10 and in working relation with aworm wheel. disposed upon the-related shafts 11 and 12. Two

I siets'ofdrives are provided in connection with each of the shafts. Oneset is for driving a driven element, as chains-13 and 14, runninglongitudinally of the platform section for shifting the seats toand-away from the aisle, and the other a driven-element, as chains 17and 18 forshifting the seats from the one row of. seats to, the adjacentrow of seats. This is accomplishedthrough the fact thattheprime mover-isadapted to be selectively driven, in

either direction. Each of the shafts 1] and 12 have a bevel geardisposed on their one end and are engaged with a like gear to deliverdriving power to the shafts l5 and us. llach of the shafts 15 and 16 areadapted to each drive a chain for the purpose of shifting the seats. Thechains-are shown at 17 and lb.

Leg and supporting elements are disposed beneath each seat and. areadapted to engagement within the slots disposed in the platform for eachseries of seat sections. This arrangement is shown in Fig. -.t whm-einthe leg elements 19 are shown engaged within the slots which act asguidmvays for the seats. The legs are moved within the guideways throughthe action of the chains. .A contact member 20 is disposed in the baseof each seat, the same being shown in detail in Fig. 1o, wherein theposition of member 20 is sub stantially vertical and is maintainml inthat position througl'i. the action of a spring 21. The member 20 has aball like bearing 22 disposed betwcen its ends which is maintained in aworking relation with supporting hearing members 22A placed thereahout.The member QQAis secured to the seat base 1. Projeetion 23 disposed uponthe chain contacts with the member 20 on each of the driven chains andcarries the seat in the direction the projection 23 is moving. it theseat is to be transferred to the oppositely disposed row. the same isthen carried by the chain running in the opposite direction untildelivery is made to the predetermined place.

The mechanism operating the movement of the seats is so arranged thatduring the movement of seats laterally there will be no movement of theseats transversely, and vice versa. Each of the chains 13, 1st, 17 andlb is provided with one projection 23, and are so arranged, that whenthe projection on the chains 13 and 1st engage a contact member ill .ofa seat, the projection on each of the chains 17 and 18'w1ll be out ofengagement \\'Iill a same length of time. Although the contact member 20is made somewhat llexible it will be retained in contact with the member23 by the lower inner 'alls of the member 22A, as long as the member istraveling in its upper horizontal. path; but when the member 223 passesover the sprocket wheel to the. lower po sition of the chain, the twomembers 20 and 23 will disengage; this permits the member 23 to engagethe opposite side of the member 20 if a reversal of the movcn'ien t ofthe chair is desired.

To provide for the chairs moving laterally to move as a unit, especiallywhen one chair fill ill)

Ill)

misses ly extending groove 54; iuponthe opposite side of each baseislormed an upwardly extending flange or projection that into the groove54, this forms a locking dcviccbetween two laterally adjacent seats. Itwill be seen thatwhen aseat moves from one row to another its groove orprojection will move out of engagement with the projection or groove ofone chair, asthecase may be, into engage ment with theprojectionorgroove of another chair.

The actuating key stem 24, placed at a convenientposition at each seatis tobe manually manipulated by the occupant of the seat and when soactuated completes the electric contact through the lever25 securedtothe lower end of the hey stem completing the contact by theoppositelydisposed end 25A. of the lever to that engaged witlrthe'key stemengaging the wire 36. This electric current is of a low tension and onlyenergizes the ntiagnet 26.

The location oil the seat determines in which direction the core of themagnet is to be manipulated. It the seat disposed in row A at the time0'! the pressing of the key stem, the circuit will be completed throughthe electric conductors 2?,and theother contact, and the seats will bein-oved toward the aisle in row A and away from the aisle in row 13.lVhereas if the seat is located in row B, the seats will move toward theaisle in row B and away from the aisle in row A. The magnetizing; of themagnet 26 draws the core in the direction indicated by the arrow and thecore is locked in position as extended because of the pawl 28 engagingin the notch 29 ofthe core.

The drawing of the coreQGA into locked position. draws the rod 30 in thesame direction. The switch elements 31 and 32 are directly se cured tothe rod 30 and the same closes the electric circuit connected with themotor by the switch elements 31 and 32 engaging with the contact points33 and 34. Thus driving the electric motor in one direction. \Vhen themagnet 35 is energized by the con'lpletion ot the electric circuitthrough the connection oil endQSA of lever 25 with the conductor 27, thecore of the m agi1et35 will be drawn in the direction indicated by thearrow and the core will be locked by engagement with the pawl 37 lockingthe core by engagement with the notch 355, thus locking; the same inposition until released. As the core is drawn into locked position theswitch elements 31 and 32 are made to engage with and complete thecircuit through the conductor to the ureter by engaging the points 39and 33 and thus rotating the motor in the opposite direction than whenmagnet 32 was energized. The switch elements 31 and 32 are normally maintained in balanced relationslriip and out of contact through the action01"? the springs 4E0 tuation as? which, either by the occupant ol and 41returning the magnet cores to normal position after they havebeenreleased by the pawlsQS and 37. The magnets are mounted in pairs withina housin or casing 53A.

hen the hey stem flit is actuated by the occupant oi the seat the sameactuates bell crank 42 journaled about supporting pin L3 by a projection4. in 'lixed relation with the key stem engaging with the bcll erank.The

bell crank is normally maintained in position i by the spring l5 cni gag1 mg with the be] i crank and the same in its normal position beingdisposed between the journal pin 43 and the ehd oli'thc bell crank. Whenthe bell era nk is partially rotated about the supportin piii -13 in thedirection indicated by the arrow in Fig. 8,until the point of contact 0lthe spring l5 with thebell crank passes the Vertical cen ter linepassing through the journal pin it), the bell crank will be n'iaintaincdin locked position by the action of the spring. until re leased. A stand47 is disposed in the aisle and ar'ljacent each row of seat sections. Toperinit of an aiitomatic stopping of the cycle when the scat occupied.has reached the aisle location, rel erringto Fig. 8, the bell arlncontacts with the stop lug 51. rotating the bell crank about pin 13, andraising its opposite end lQA against the arm 51A of key stony-l8 therebyraisii'ig said hey stem and releasing the magnet pawls. In the event anattend ant, as an usher, should desire to stop the seat movement, allthat is necessary is to manually actuate the key stem a8. 'lhepressingoi" the push button 4119 which is connected by the electric wiring lQAto one of the magnets energizes the magnet and will set in motion anydcsiredsection. at any time by the attendant tlnismo'ving to or away 'i'l'0lll the aisle either row of seats since each row of seats has a standand actuating mechanisn'l. The push button connects the electric circuitwith the electric niotor and will continue to operate thesame until thehe stem i8 is actuated re leasing the magnet pawls, thus throwing theswitch and stopping;' the electric motor that acts as thepriine mover lor imparting move ment to the seats.

I have provided elements through the acthe seat from the seat, or bytheactuation off the same the attendant, or prospectiw oc cupant from anaisle location wherein the de sired seat may be delivered to an aisleloca tion.

To make the mechanism sate for use by the public I have provided ashield IE2 that entirely covers all electric connections and otherelements and protects the same from contact by outside influences.

While the form oil Incchanisn'i herein shown and described is admirablyadapted to iulh'll the objects primarily stated, it is to beunderstocticl that it not ihtenchal to cradles the invention to the oneterm of emboditzt parallel rows,

'herein shown and described, as it is suscep- .t'rom each seat adaptedfor controlling the last mentioned means.

2/In a dev'ce oi" the class described, the comb nation of horizontalgnideways, parallel rows of seats movably carried upon said guideways,means for imparting movement to the aforesaid seats along saidgnideways, other means controlling the last mentioned means, and meanscooperating with and adapted to cause the last mentioned means to stopthe movement of the seats when a preselected seat has moved toapredetermined position relative to the other seats.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination of seats arrangedin rows, supporting legs associated with said seats, guideways for saidsupporting legs to determine the path of travel of the seats, powermeans for imparting movement-to each seat and selective means fordetermining the direction of travel of the seats and for predeterminingthe stopping location of the move ment.

4. In a; device of the class described, the combination of a groupofseats arranged in rows, supporting elements for said seats, guidewaysfor the supporting elements and power means for imparting movement tothe seats within the guideways to move the seats to or away from theaisle, or forward or backward to deliver' a selected seat to apredetermined position for the seat selected.

5. In a device of the class described, the combination of a series ofseats arranged in supporting elements for said seats, guidewaysassociated with the supporting elements, power means disposed adjacentthe guideways adapted to move the seats toward or away from the aisle,or to, or from alternate rows, and selective means for predetermirimgthe dn'ection oi movement and for predeterniining the point of stop ofthe sea-tswhen moved.

6; In a'dcvico 01 the class described the "combination of a group ofseats arranged in rows, power means for horizontally shitting the seatsrelative to each other, means discombination of seats arranged inparallel rows, power means for imparting horizontal movement to changethe relative position of each of the seats, means for causing the powermeans to impart movement to the seats, and means cooperating with thelast mentioned means for predetermining the point of stop of the seatswhen moved.

8. In a device of the class described, the combination of a group oiseats, power means for imparting horizontal movement to each seat in thegroup, elements disposed at each seat for causing the power in ans toimpart movement to each seat of the group. and elements cooperating withthe last mentioned elements for medetermining the point of stop of theseat from which the movement was initiated.

9. In a device of the class describcd, the combination of a group ofseats, starting clements associated with each seat, power meanscontrolled by said starting elements associated with the group of seatsfor imparting movement to the seats in a predetermined horizontalpathway, and additional means disposed adjacent the aisle end oi" eachrow or group for independently controlling the power mean 10. In adevice of the class described, the combination Oil :1 group oi seatsarranged in rows, power means associated with the group for impartinghorizontal movement; to ach ,seat of the group, starting elementsassociated with each seat for causing the power means to impart movementto the group, and means cooperating with the aforesaid starting elementsdisposed at the aisle end of each row oi" seats for independentlycausing the power means to impart movement to the group and for stoppingthe movement.

11. In a seat positioned device oi? the class described, two rows ofseats provided with :1

common aisle, means oppositely moving the sand rows to and from theaisle to the extent of one seat, there being a gap in each row the'width otan opposing seat in the other row;

means cooperating with the last mcntioncd means moving a seat of archrow into the opposing gap of the other row, and means controlling theforegoing moving means.

12-. In a seat positioning device, a plurality of seats arranged inparallel rows, there being an entrance and exit station to said seals,means whereby a seat in one row remote from said entrance and exitstation, mover: toward said station, means whereby seats intermediatesaid seat and said station move one by one from the one row to theother, and mcans whereby a like number of seats move in like manner fromthe other row to the one row to positions other than intermediate thelirst mentioned seat and said entrance and evil station,

LEE lTIFi Tl'Ifiivjll F -Y ll.

